Hugh had never been so anxious to return home.

“Phoebe, dear heart, I’m back! God, I’ve missed you! Where are you?” Fired up with excited expectation, he burst into the drawing room, tossing his low-crowned beaver onto the ottoman as he looked about him. He was surprised not to have been greeted by the maid, but more so that his beloved had not made a hasty appearance.

“Oh, sir, ye’re back! Thank the good Lord!” cried the girl as she flew into the room, her eyes wide. “I thought ye’d never come. The mistress ‘as been gone these two days, an’ ye also. Who was ter pay me wages? I feared ye both dead.”

“Your mistress is not here, Mary? Two days, you say?” Alarmed, Hugh swung around as if he might be furnished with the very clues the young maid had missed. The elegantly furnished room looked just as it had done when he left. “Why has no one reported the matter?”

“There were no one to report it ter, sir—”

“A note? Surely she’s written—”

“Nothin’, sir, beyond a couple of drafts tossed in the grate,” said Mary, scrabbling among a pile of correspondence in the rolltop desk before handing him a couple of crumpled, soiled sheets. “She jest dressed ‘erself all in black with a veil over ‘er face an’ then she went into the night, and that were the last I seen,” Mary was saying as he scanned the few unhelpful lines.

A painful throbbing of his heart was competing with a growing thundering in his brain as he tried to reconcile Mary’s explanation with the cryptic words Phoebe had written him…two days before?

“Where did she go, Mary?” he asked, crumpling the paper into a ball and advancing upon Mary, who stepped back in alarm. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He tried to master his emotions and the urgency in his voice. “I just need you to tell me all she said to you!”

“Oh sir, she told me nothin’, I swear, else I’d ‘ave found a way ter stop ’er. I dunno what’s she’s done or who she’s met or what she planned. On me honor, I don’t.”

Hugh strode to the window and stared out into the street as if that might throw some light on what had happened.

“Her clothes, Mary…did she take any of her clothes?” He swallowed. “Or come back for them?” he added as the terrible thought intruded that she might have planned to run away the moment he was gone for any length of time. Surely not! She loved him madly. She’d declared it in as many words, just as he’d pledged his own affection. He’d not stinted when it came to making it very clear the strength of his feelings.

“What possible reason could she have had for disguising herself and slipping away in the dead of night, never to return?”

“I dunno, sir. I dunno anythin’, sir!”

“Go, Mary! Ask anyone you can think of. The neighbors. If you hear anything, you must tell me, obviously. Just go!”

He thought he’d break down any moment now. The devastation at the thought that Phoebe might have left to seek new diversions, just as she’d left Blinley Manor the night she entered his life, was too much to bear.

She’d spoken of boredom when he was away. Could she have gone out seeking fresh entertainment? No, she’d have come back to him. She’d not planned to desert him. Surely he could be confident of that, at least? But what if she’d gone out pleasure-seeking, intending to come back, yet something had happened to her?

He thrust his knuckles into his eye sockets and breathed heavily. Where had she gone? God, he loved her, but could he forgive her if she wanted to return?

No, he mustn’t think like that. Something inexplicable had happened. He must not be so quick to think ill of her. And yet, she’d left the house unaccompanied and on some clandestine mission.

And she’d not returned.

Breathing heavily, he began his weary progress to the door. How would he ever find her if she chose not to see him again? Should he even try?

“Sir! A note’s jest come from yer sister.” Mary was back upon the threshold brandishing a piece of parchment.

Hugh groaned when he read it. The last thing he needed right now was to meet Ada, who apparently would be waiting in the park opposite just as soon as he indicated he was back home. Why she didn’t just come to the house, he didn’t know.

But he was ever the loyal brother. Just as he’d considered himself a loyal lover.

Ada hailed him, raising her gloved hand from the far end of the park as she advanced with her lady’s maid at her side.

Her dimples popped out when she saw him, and she tilted her face to receive his kiss. “I’ve missed you, brother,” she said. “I have such exciting news to tell you, too, and you were gone a whole day longer than you said.”

“Well, what is it, Ada?” he asked. “I hope it is important as I’ve only just returned from a long and tiring journey.”

“My, but you are grumpy today. Perhaps I shan’t tell you, after all.”

Hugh rolled his eyes. “Don’t play games, Ada. I’m not in the mood.”

His sister let out her breath in a sigh. “You’ve taken away all my excitement when I’ve been waiting two days to tell you my news,” she pouted. “And for so long you’ve been telling me I must open my heart up to the opportunity of meeting a nice gentleman.”

“My goodness, that is news,” he remarked drily.

“Yes, indeed, I have met a very nice gentleman, though perhaps you don’t consider that as noteworthy as the fact that Lady Cavanaugh has been apprehended, and Mr Wentworth will be testifying as a witness to her murderous actions in doing away with her husband. I’m sure that’s hardly news to you.”

Hugh sighed. “It’s all I’ve been reading about for the past two days.” He stopped suddenly. “Why, Ada, you said his name without….”

“Yes, without weeping and wailing. That’s because I have a plan, Hugh.”

“You can’t possibly do anything at such a public juncture that might bring attention to yourself, Ada—”

She cut him off. “Or shame on the family. Of course I know that. No, I have a plan as regards my new young gentleman that’ll help me recover and get on with my life. I don’t intend ever mentioning Mr Wentworth’s name again. There! That’s the last time I’ll say it out loud. I’ve practised putting it in a coffin, like my baby, and throwing away the key. They’re dead to me, Hugh. Aunt Alexa has been counseling me well. I thought she was worse than Aunt Belcher, but in truth, she’s been good for me. I can be strong, and I can have a life. I intend Mr Xavier to consider me a good prospect, Hugh. Because I am. I will not be branded beneath contempt when Mr…you know who I mean, should suffer equally for the crimes we both committed. I just hope Phoebe didn’t do anything foolish after I asked her to seek out Mrs Wentworth. She assured me she’d be careful though she didn’t want to go, and for that I feel a trifle guilty.”

“What?”

“A few days ago, I begged Phoebe to go to a certain not quite respectable salon I’d discovered Mrs Wentworth was known to frequent. You wouldn’t do it for me, Hugh, but Phoebe is so much more accommodating than you are at times, so I asked her. She can go anywhere, being the kind of woman she is.”

“Don’t speak like that, Ada,” Hugh warned. “That was unnecessary and beneath you. I happen to love her.” He ran his hand distractedly through his hair. “But she’s gone.” He looked away, embarrassed.

“What do you mean, she’s gone? Not gone gone, surely? She’ll come back. She loves you.”

“Mary told me that three days ago she put on her black cloak over her finest dress, topped it with a veiled bonnet, and disappeared into the night. She has not returned.”

“Three days ago?” Ada put her hand to her mouth and stopped in her tracks. “Oh Hugh, three days ago was when I asked Phoebe to go to Mrs Plumb’s Salon.”

Hugh grew cold. “That was just about the time Lady Cavanaugh was apprehended. Surely Phoebe would not testify on behalf of her mistress, would she? Not if she were so convinced of the threat Wentworth posed.” He knew he was talking aloud about matters Ada would not know about, but he had to tease out every possibility. “Phoebe is loyal but not that loyal that she’d risk her neck—and not without consulting me?”

Ada looked surprised. “You really trust her so much that you’d attribute her disappearance to something noble, rather than the fact she might have grown bored and sought diversion elsewhere?” She gripped his arm and put up her hand to prevent him from interrupting. “You forget that I know just how deeply one can be sucked into the maelstrom of intense feelings for someone. Why, I thought Mr Wentworth as worthy of my regard as you seem to of Phoebe. I don’t wish to be unkind, Hugh, but Phoebe is a lightskirt. She was never prepared to work or soil her hands like a common servant, though she was no better. No, she wanted a new wardrobe so she could flaunt her handsome looks, and you gave her one. No doubt she’s moved on to find bigger fish to fry. Someone with a title and a fine fortune.”

Hugh felt himself gaping just like that supposedly bigger fish Ada claimed his darling Phoebe was out trying to lure. Angrily, he shook his head. “You do her a grave injustice. Besides, she took no jewelry and nothing else of any value. No, she went out empty-handed to do your bidding, Ada. She went out seeking information upon your request, and something happened. That’s what I believe.”

“Well, I hope you’re right. I certainly thought she was very fond of you,” Ada conceded.

“Fond of me! She was more than that, I can tell you!” Hugh removed Ada’s hand. There was nothing to be gained from losing his temper. The truth was he was angry with himself, not Ada. He was responsible for Phoebe, and he’d promised to keep her safe. “It’s getting late, and you must call your maid and return to Aunt Alexa’s,” he muttered.

“Yes, so I can dress and attend a dinner where several MPs, including my charming Mr Xavier, will be in attendance,” Ada simpered. “Aunt Alexa introduced us three days ago.”

“Ah yes, so that’s my cue to quiz you on your beau.” Hugh tried to sound interested, but his mood was fearful and heavy. “My apologies for allowing myself to be distracted.”

“Don’t be churlish, Hugh. Phoebe will come back if she loves you as she says she does. And please be glad for me. Since you asked—or rather, didn’t in so many words—Mr Xavier is a widower with no children and no title but an adequate fortune and a fine Mayfair address, and Aunt Alexa says I’d struggle to do better. Fortunately, I find myself rather intrigued by Mr Xavier. He is very kind.”

“Very kind? And doddery? Oh Ada, don’t sell yourself short. You don’t need to settle for an old man.”

“I don’t plan to settle for anyone I don’t choose to ally myself to for the remainder of my days. Mr Xavier is fifteen years older, interesting, and well-connected.”

“Are you brave enough to risk—”

“Do you mean have I covered my tracks well enough to confidently entertain Mr Xavier’s attentions without fear of discovery of the fact that I’m no better than your Phoebe?”

“No need to bristle like a hedgehog, my dear Ada.” Hugh shook his head. “My, but you are not the meek and mild little sister I once knew.”

“That’s because I’ve seen Mr Wentworth win a fine estate and profit despite the crimes he’s committed against me. I will trouble myself no more with him, but if I cannot get my revenge in seeing him reduced in status and fortune, then my revenge will be in prospering in my own life. I will not be an unpaid companion to a crotchety aunt for the remainder of my days because of Mr Wentworth. I shall be the wife and hostess of a man of politics. I shall not be afraid, Hugh, for nothing can be as bad as that which I’ve endured already.”

“Fighting words, indeed,” Hugh said admiringly. “I wish you great success in your endeavors toward such ends. Meanwhile, I must return and decide what to do about Phoebe.”

“You can do nothing until she decides to return.”

Hugh looked at her sadly. “You truly believe she has left me?”

Ada smiled. “I also believe she will return to you, Hugh, when she grows tired of her pleasure-seeking and realizes no kinder, sweeter man existed. And you will take her back because you love her. It will end happily; I’ve no doubt. Now go to your club and stop mooning about like a lovestruck calf.”